Feel more fun in French? Your personality can change depending on the language you speak

Mar 9, 2017

Quartz – Nicola Prentis

“Indeed, research suggests that our perceptions of the culture associated with a given language can impact our behavior. A 2006 study (pdf) lead by Nairan Ramírez-Esparza, an assistant professor of social psychology at the University of Connecticut, and her colleagues, asked bilingual Mexican Americans to take a personality test in both English and Spanish. The test measures the “Big Five” personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The study found that subjects scored higher in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness when they took the English version of the test. The authors speculate that this may reflect the fact that individualistic cultures (like that of the US) place a high premium on assertiveness, achievement and superficial friendliness, whereas it’s less important to sing one’s own praises in collectivistic cultures (like that of Mexico).”(more)